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Deliberate practice is much like magic

Recently realized I’ve completely converted my touch typing to dvorak. Dvorak is an alternate keyboard layout, when you see a keyboard it is usually in the Qwerty style.

I had learn to touch type when I was a kid on my mom’s typewriter and have been blazing fast typing things out. It was so ingrained that it became a part of me.

Never imagined I’d be able to change this wiring in my brain. Gamers would understand the pain when you get a new joystick control that’s different from the one that you are used to.

Switching to dvorak was the same.

The change was painful, years of practice and speed resisted this change that I was putting myself through.

I couldn’t type out my thoughts and productivity on the command line was at an all time low. It was a handicap at work.

But I forced myself to master this new layout for whatever reason. It was like reinventing your whole self, what you new and what was easy.

Key things that helped me was a strong desire to master this, the willingness to commit to pain and the perseverance to change the old habit and not giving up.

As expected the result was amazing, I learnt to type in dvorak and there was no looking back.

The result of this experience was profound, I now know the key to master seemingly insurmountable tasks.

A new way of thinking – Being deliberate in practice.

Looking back much of the skills that I’d built up over the years had this at the root.

Think back to the movies about athletes who achieve great feats with their body, look at how great people break through walls of obstruction both mental and physical, you’d find these were the qualities that set them apart.

Try this out and you’d see that every small success will cascade in greater returns in the longer run. The key to unlock your potential lies within you.